1,3-propanediol, which is an important raw material in fine chemical industry, can be used in inks, printing and dyeing, drugs, lubricants, antifreeze agents, as well as diols for the synthesis of heterocycles, pharmaceutical intermediates, etc. Currently, the most important use of 1,3-propanediol is as a polymer monomer to synthesize degradable polyester trimethylene terephthalate (PTT). PTT has both the high-strength and stability of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and the excellent molding processing property of PBT (polybutylene terephthalate); moreover, PTT is comparable to PA6 and PA66 in elastic recovery, showing soft and excellent drapability, good quality touch and comfortable elasticity. Additionally, PTT also has good anti-fouling and wear resistance. Therefore, PTT has been used in some fields such as fibers for clothing, low carbon materials and engineering plastics with a huge potential market. For example in the textile field, since PTT fiber has excellent flexibility and elastic recovery, good wrinkle resistance and dimensional stability, good weather resistance and dyeing performance, and good barrier performance so as to withstand γ-ray disinfection, clothing made of such fiber is comfortable in dress, soft in touch, easy to wash, quick to dry, and free of ironing. It is apparent that PTT fiber fabric has a great market potential. With the huge demand for PTT in the industrial field, 1,3-propanediol which is used as the raw material for the synthesis of PTT is bound to promote its development. At present, the large-scale application of PTT is limited mainly due to the price of 1,3-propanediol. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a synthesis process of 1,3-propanediol with low cost.
At present, it is considered that a process route, in which glycerol used as the raw material is hydrogenated to produce 1,3-propanediol, is promising. A metal/solid acid bifunctional catalyst is generally used in this process, and the reaction is carried out in aqueous medium. However, this process has an apparent defect in that the catalyst is easily deactivated and has a poor stability. So far, there is no good solution yet, and thus this defect is still an important factor that hinders the industrial application of this process.